Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis 16.-17. (1978-1979)

Sugár István: A mohamedán vallásról katolikusra tért volt török alattvalók Egerben

392 such new-christians, who had lived in Eger for a shorter or longer time, during the 23 years between 1687, the year of the capitulation and 1710. In the first decade of the XVIIIth century, the Turkish authorities were aware of the fact, that a numerous Turkish colony had stayed in Eger, after Rákóczi Ferenc reconquered Eger from the Hapsburgs, the Pasha of Belgrad came forward with the request, that the Turks should be sent to the border, by the Prince. The Turkish authorities repeated their request in 1706 and 1709, but with no result. These above mentioned, former Moslem Turkish subjects were of a quite heterogeneous composition. Amond them there were renegades, namely, christians who passed to the Moslem faith, as well as janissaries, alaibeys, not to forget the numerous group of gypsies. But the new-christians had not always lived in Eger, some of them coming from other places found a refuge here in Eger, before it was reconquered, some came later from distant places and settled down here. According to the contract of surrender the town had a privileged position, which practically appealed to those, who did not want to return to Turkey. Especially after the surrender of Nagyvárad, in the first half of the 1690 years, their number in the town increases. The frequent occurence of new-christians in the registrations relates to this fact. The revelation of above mentioned, tells us about the christening of the persons, their marriages, the christening of their children, deaths, about their properties (house, vineyard), sparesly about their profession and sometimes even of the place of their origin (Nis, Mostar, Belgrad Karmanlia in Asia-Minor). Sometimes the Turkish name of their parents is revealed. It is remarkable, that some of the janissaries, who previously had nothing at all, acquired after settling down, a house, vineyards. We can find wealthy persons among them, like Hajdar (Haidar) László, who lent considerable amounts to the town of Gyöngyös. The already mentioned alaibey of Eger was dispensed by the sovreign of paying (dispensed) taxes of any kind — be it civil or peasant — what more, he received from Emperor Leopold as reward, a farm in the County of Borsod. The gypsy population is most remarkable, they are mainly blacksmiths and locksmiths and some of them proclaimed themselves with pride, to be Turkish gypsies. The number of Turkish women and children is not to be neglected. The former Moslem Turkish subjects, the new-christians, formed a quite tight community in the society of the town. The way they separated themselves from the christians was remarkable. They lived mainly in the Turkish street, under the fortress (Dobó utca of today) and in the neighbouring northern quarter of the town. The Jesuits found the reason of this separation in the fact, that these new-christians had the impression of being disdained by the christian population. But this is not the case in all regards, because we know that there have been new-christian town magistrates and corporals, too. Their separation is due mainly to the fact that they intermarried, what more, the god-parents of their children, their marriagewitnesses were mainly new-christians. After the Peace of Karlóca many people lost their faith in the revival of the Turkish reign and after having sold their properties, they fled to Turkey. This happened to such an extent — especially after flight of the former alaibey, Báthory László — that the Jesuits asked the bishop to forbid the new-christians to sell their properties and to forbid the christians to buy those. The second wave of departure of new-christians to Turkey can be pointed out in the second half of the years 1700, when the interpreters and soldiers in the camps of Rákóczi, tempted the former T-irks of Eger to come under the rule of the Sultan. In 1709 an investigation was started in this matter. Undoubtedly the greatest part of the Osman new-christians was assimilated to the population of the town, which from the point of view of ethnology was already very varied. (Germans, Austrians, Poles, Czehs, Slovacs, Serbs, Dalmatians, Italians, Gypsies and of course the Hungarians.). 216